The Final Harmony
by mirai-juuhachi
Summary: Flute struggles with her feelings at closing Hamel in. In the end she has to chose between her feelings and her duty to society. [oneshot]


No one could understand the loneliness she felt after she was forced to shut him in. She felt so lost that she could never be saved. No one could understand the pain she struggled with for many years. After she had tried to leave it behind it was no mystery that she would never fall in love again, her heart lied in the box she could never open.

By the time the dreaded battle drew to a close, her mother had been terribly weakened. Even with her powers of healing the queen's strength would not return. The title of queen passed to Flute then. Many thinking this would cure her of her suffering could not imagine how much it only deepened the pain.

The box came to her mind constantly and opening it became more appealing every time she thought about it. Her role as queen though would never allow such a selfish act. The people of Sforzando could be put in great danger for her selfish needs. They were to come before her own personal grievances.

In the vast hallway connected to her room she could hear Clari and Cornet talking quite loudly. Naturally it was about the box and Queen Flute's suffering; things that the two siblings could never understand. They had tried many times to remove this pain from off their queen's shoulders but all so far had failed.

"What if we hid the box, she would distress for a while over it but given a bit of time she would probably let go of it a little faster."

"She would kill us if she found out, you know." Clari knew all the depths of the young queen's wrath and wasn't about to risk another injury.

"I know but I worry about her. She's healthy, but her eyes… oh her eyes are always so sad. It's almost like she's only still her because of her role to the people."

Flute let out an unhappy sigh. She loved her people but they could not replace him for her. Gently she let herself slid down her bedroom door to the floor. The sun began to set outside her balcony exit. She stared at it until the sun let out its last scream of light for that day as it was suffocated out by the darkness.

The stars began to twinkle in the sun's absence. She smiled as the thought came to her that the night had come to become her favorite time of the day. She wasn't the cheery girl of her past, but how could she be? Hamel was there in her past no matter how hard she tried to forget him. He made her the person she was back then.

Suddenly there were shouts from among the people downstairs. Guests had apparently arrived and important guests at that. From what she could gather it was Raiel and his wife Sizer.

She opened her bedroom door and made the long trip down the stairs to see these visitors. What she had guessed was correct. Raiel and Sizer were at the foot of the stairs and Sizer appeared to be with child. Flute couldn't keep herself from revealing a smile.

"Congratulations on the child. To whom do I owe this wonderful delight?"

"Well if it would please her majesty, we would like to stay here so we could help you with whatever you may need." Raiel spoke calmly still smiling at her.

"Now now Raiel. No need to be so formal. You're always welcome here. I'd be delighted to have you stay with us! You two are practically family to me." She embraced Sizer once she reached the bottom of the stairs.

After they expressed their thanks a small silence split the group as the two of them noticed Pandora's Box. Flute caught the direction their glances were going and started talking to them once again.

"You two must be starved after such a trip, please come to the dining hall and get something to eat." She guided them out of the room, as they continued to talk about their journey.

As the evening came along Flute took her usual trip back to the main hall. She sat in the huge chair and took the precious box into her arms. As soon as it touched her flesh the room became dead as a tomb. Her silent tears flowed out of her as she cradled the box, thinking about the long lost past and the chances she had missed to tell him how she had felt.

"Flute…"

Flute jumped out of her seat. There was no one around her, and everyone was upstairs in their rooms. She would have heard if someone had come down. The thing that got to her though was the familiarity with which the voice had spoken her name. It had to have been his voice. "My mind must be playing tricks on me…"

"Flute…"

"Hamel…?"She put the box down and ran to the front door opening it up, and then continued by running through all the halls to find the source of his voice.

The days went on she continued to hear her name being called out, but the voice would never answer her questions. After a week had passed she had started to believe it was just the last bits of her sanity escaping from her.

Late on a Thursday evening the voice called to her even louder than usual. Pandora's Box lie tilted on its side on the ground. Flute panicked as she ran to it and scooped it up in her arms. The voice began to say her name pleadingly. She couldn't open it. What if he were caught? Would they be forced to kill him? Was he already dead and had come back to haunt her for doing this to him?

She pressed it tightly to herself and ran out the doors to get outside the gates of the kingdom. The storm coming in from the east would cover her as she committed this atrocity. Tonight was the night to free him and to touch him as she wished she had, she could no longer live like this.

As soon as she stood outside the gates her body began to shake. She held the chest from herself and placed her left hand on top of the box. With a deep breathe, Flute opened the box. Almost immediately smoke arose out of the box causing her to drop it. _He has to at least still care about me…_ Then a bright light flashed from the box and she felt herself brave enough to say something.

"Hamel?"

The smoke cleared and the rain began to drop slowly. Darks figures could be seen all around and she found herself a bit startled at this. But when the smoke had finally cleared away she found herself staring at the empty forest; nothing was standing in front of her at all. Her instincts told her to see if maybe she had shut the box when it had dropped but alas no the box was wide open. She fell to her knees and wept.

Morning came around and Flute had already hidden the open box where she hoped no one would find it. She informed Percuss of her decision to take the box from her immediate sight so she could begin to separate herself from its spell on her. He then passed the message on so that no one would discuss this matter with her until she was ready to talk about it.

The voice had ceased to call her and her nights of loneliness became worse. It was as if her love had abandoned her. Many in the castle took notice of their queen's drastic nosedive into depression.

Another day came to a close as Flute took her time approaching the balcony to watch the sun set, the last rays dancing on the horizon. Sleep no longer came to her without spells or some kind of medication. She feared she had killed Hamel in a physical sense and if that was what she had done, she would have much rather killed herself.

Swiftly she felt her arm gripped, her body moved in such a way that her lips pressed to another's. Her eyes were open wide with a slight tingle of fear. The moon light shed a little bit of light on the situation though the only thing she could make out was the horns, two were round and one was straight up in the middle.

When she was released she saw the rest of her kiss stealer, black torn pants and a very muscular build.

"Demon…" She called lightly; this caused her to think about the word. Her mind was still in a deep shock. "Hamel…?"

His hand covered her mouth gently. She knew this hand from one of her many near death encounters, the one she had not trusted at the time. He truly had become a demon, but in the end it seemed as inevitable as it was for Sizer to have been an angel.

"Come with me."

There were no more words, no more unnecessary movements as she took a pen in to her hand and scribbled a note down. She returned to him quickly in a graceful manner as someone who was captivated with the view. His arms took her in and held her close to him. She took one last view at the castle as they vanished into the night sky together.

**_"My Prince has returned for me finally. I leave the kingdom in your capable hands Lute. Farewell my dearest friends._**

**_–Love Flute"_**


End file.
